Lalang Edges Derrick Twice at NCAA Indoors

Weekly college racing recap for March 12

Monday, March 12, 2012, 12:00 am

NCAA Division I Indoor Championships - Nampa, Idaho

Men’s 5,000m The first final of the weekend featured the highly competitive 5,000m between Arizona’s Lawi Lalang and Stanford’s Chris Derrick, who, despite continued improvement and competitiveness at NCAA meets, has yet to win a national title. Arizona’s Kenyan duo of Lalang and Stephen Sambu took the lead early and worked together to string out the rest of the competitors but Derrick and Southern Utah’s stud Cam Levins hung tough. Derrick worked his way to the front to give himself an honest shot of taking home his first NCAA crown, but Lalang’s last 200m proved too quick as he powered home in 13:25.11. Derrick, despite his own strong finish, crossed the line just behind in 13:26.88. Sambu fell off a bit, but clenched the Arizona sandwich by finishing third in 13:33.61 while Levins barely outleaned a late charge by NAU’s Diego Estrada for fourth in 13:38.12 to Estrada’s 13:38.45.

Women’s 5,000mIowa State’s Betsy Saina and California’s Deborah Maier repeated the excitement in the women’s 5,000m, which also came down to a closing kick. Saina, last year’s third-place finisher at NCAAs, turned it on the last 400m and outkicked Maier for the win in 15:38.83. Maier, who held the fastest seed time, finished in second in 15:40.74. Aliphine Tuliamuk finished in third in 15:50.12. The top-four finishers, including Saina’s Iowa State teammate Meaghan Nelson (15:52.37), were all juniors promising for a tight showdown next year.

Men’s DMRNotre Dame, despite only qualifying last weekend, took home the win behind a strong kick from junior Jeremy Rae in the last 400m in the 1,600m leg. Rae received the baton in second, just behind the then leaders Ohio State, but pressed the pace once collegiate mile record holder Miles Batty caught the lead pack. Rae, strong in his kick, ripped a 4:00.67 1,600m split and Notre Dame claimed the title. Indiana’s Andrew Bayer had a strong finish (3:58.87 split) and helped his team to the runner-up spot with the time of 9:35.67. Batty, despite running the fastest 1,600m split of the field (3:57.98), had too large of a deficit to make up and BYU finished in third with the time of 9:36.07.

Women’s DMRWashington’s Katie Flood proved she is one of the best milers in the country by anchoring her team to victory despite receiving the baton four seconds behind the leaders. Flood was handed the baton in eighth place and proceeded to run her 1,600m leg in 4:34.02, a full second ahead of any other team’s last leg. The Washington team finished with a time of 11:05.20 to win the title. Oregon was second, behind Anne Kesselring’s final split of 4:38.39, in 11:05.85. Dartmouth was third in 11:06.29 due to a strong final run by Abbey D’Agostino, who ran her 1,600m leg in 4:35.75.

Men’s MileScotsman Chris O’Hare of Tulsa was the upset NCAA champion in the men’s mile on Saturday. O’Hare, last year’s runner-up, wasn’t the favorite, given that BYU’s Miles Batty had run a collegiate record of (3:54.54) at the Millrose Games, a race in which O’Hare finished sixth and and finished behind Binghampton’s Erik van Ingen. O’Hare entered with the fourth-fastest time in the field, but took matters into his own hands, essentially leading the entire race wire-to-wire, O’Hare chased the goal of running the first ever sub-4:00 mile on Idaho soil. He held off last moves from Boston University’s Rich Peters and Batty for the win in 4:01.66. Peters outleaned Batty for second, 4:01.78 to 4:01.86, respectively.

Women’s Mile In the first distance event on Saturday, Stony Brook’s Lucy Van Dalen won her first NCAA title. Van Dalen, from New Zealand, entered the field with the fastest seed time and did not disappoint, winning in 4:39.76. But the victory did not come easy, with Oregon’s Jordan Hasay setting the early pace. Hasay led the race through 1200m in 3:33, but didn’t quite have the leg turnover late in the race and fell off the lead as Van Dalen and Illinois State’s Aisha Praught (4:39.85) kicked to the finish. Hasay finished third with the time of 4:40.09.

Men’s 800m Mason McHenry of Arizona State overtook a swift moving Michael Preble from Texas A&M for his first NCAA title, winning the event in 1:47.96. Preble held on for second, running 1:48.11. Iowa’s Erik Sowinski crossed the line for third in 1:48.93, just ahead of Georgia’s Aaron Evans’s 1:48.95.

Women’s 800mBYU’s Nachelle Mackie pushed the pace from the gun and continued to dominate the race finishing in first with the time of 2:03.30. Mackie finished more than a second ahead of top-seed Natalja Piliusina of Oklahoma State who blocked the BYU 1-2 finish by finishing second in 2:04.48. BYU teammate Katie Palmer was third in 2:04.56.

Men’s 3,000m The 3,000m was the last men’s distance event of Saturday evening and, again, it came down to Arizona’s Lawi Lalang and Stanford’s Chris Derrick. NAU’s Diego Estrada made sure the pace was honest, taking the field through a first mile of 4:15. With five laps to go, Lalang took the lead with Derrick closely behind. In the end, it was a repeat of the night before in the 5,000m with Lalang narrowly outkicking Derrick in 7:46.64 by the slimmest of margins. (Derrick was only 0.17 seconds behind in 7:46.81.) SUU’s Cam Levins, who had finished fourth in the 5,000m the day before, capped his impressive double and finished third in 7:49.78.

Women’s 3,000mIt was the final distance event of the championships and the field was loaded. Washington’s Katie Flood, Oregon’s Jordan Hasay, California’s Deborah Maier and Georgetown’s Emily Infeld were all in the mix for the majority of the race despite having raced at least once already. Hasay seemed to be in the prime position but couldn’t find the next gear and faded to fourth. A strong Infeld charged the front with her kick and took home the victory in 9:15.44. Maier, the runner-up at 5,000m, finished in second, again, right behind Infeld in 9:15.74. 5,000m champion Betsy Saina was third in 9:16.16 and Hasay finished in 9:16.42.

In just its second year of existence, the men’s program at Grand Canyon University won the Division II title with 54 points. It racked up All-American placings in 18 events, but scored all of its points in the sprints, hurdles and field events. Distance powerhouse Adams State finished second with 47 points, thanks to victories from freshmen Boris Berian and Matt Daniels in the 800m (1:53.24) and the mile (4:07.94), respectively. Adams State freshman Kevin Batt was also a major contributor by finishing third in the 5,000m with his time of 14:18.57.

On the women’s side, Grand Valley State won its second consecutive team title with 94 points. Lakers’ senior Rachel Patterson took home the top prize in the 5,000m, winning with the meet-record 16:07.28. Fellow seniors Karie McDonald and Betsy Graney each scored points in the women’s mile, finishing in sixth and seventh, respectively. Grand Valley also won the DMR in 11:23.35.

North Central College won its third consecutive title with a mere 48 points ahead of second place Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s 37 points. Traditionally a distance powerhouse, North Central was led by its sprinters and field event athletes and only scored distance points in the DMR, where the NCC team finished seventh in 10:03.79. The shock of the meet was Amherst’s Ben Scheetz, Division III national record-holder in the 800m, failing to qualify for the 800m and the mile. He was the top seed in both events. Wabash’s Kevin McCarthy was the winner in the men’s mile in 4:08.93, narrowly missing Will Leer’s 2007 NCAA DIII meet record of 4:08.19. Bowdoin set the meet record in the DMR running 9:59.67, breaking Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s 2009 record of 10:05.7.

On the women’s side, Wartburg College reclaimed its team title by scoring 99 points, well ahead of second place Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s 48 points. The Wartburg women were led by a 1-2 finish in the 5,000m run. Senior Laura Sigmund won in 17:01.82, followed by freshman teammate Alana Enabnit in 17:12.98. Sigmund was also the anchor leg for the DMR squad that finished third with their time of 11:49.48.